REBEL DOCS ROUND-UP

posted by Eve Korzec | 82dc
September 25, 2016

Here's a round-up of all our Rebel Doc of the Day posts from the past couple weeks! Compiled by a mix of SDI staff, Bridging the Gap alumni and top industry experts we think we might have compiled the ultimate list of 'rebellious' documentaries and documentarians!

We hope you'll find something new, exciting and inspiring to get you riled up and ready to spill your heart out on your Bridging the Gap: Rebellion application! (If you haven't got yours in yet ... you only have till tomorrow what are you doing reading this?!! APPLY HERE NOW) HAPPY REBELLING ✊

The Corporation - chosen by Sonja Henrici, SDI Co-Director

"'What kind of person is this entity?' The Corporation asks boldly, and teaches us all about discerning psychopathology. This ingenious core question drives the entire film, and it's what makes the film and its insights so memorable. One of the earlier documentaries which became a movement. And what better way to describe a rebellion?"

Filmmaker Alma Har'el - chosen by Charlie Philips, Head of Documentaries at The Guardian

"Har'el mashes the rules of the documentary genre, makes films about love and honesty, continues making a film even when she has a broken back, and consorts with other rebels. She feels like an outsider rebel to me, and watching her films is a transformative experience. Revolution through love and emotion - that's so rebellious"

"This Youtube series quite literally follows young people of the African diaspora as they take a walk through their neighbourhood, discussing what it's like to exist within a minority in a country and meditating on their blackness in these settings. Interestingly Emeke has (mostly) chosen subjects who live outside of America and because of this the series rebels against the assumption that the African-American identity and experience is that of all other, to borrow a phrase from Audre Lorde, "hyphenated peoples'" of the diaspora. The individuals featured in the films inspire rebellion with their compelling and highly-articulate arguments for social justice in a wide-range of topical issues."

"Unearthed is one of the most angering documentaries I have seen and is a shining example of positive rebellion. The film follows Jolynn Minnar as she sets out to discover what the consequences of potential fracking could mean for her home region of Karoo, South Africa.

The extensive research which went into making Unearthed adds weight to the horrifying truths, and would make even the most dogmatic think twice about whether or not shale gas extraction is in fact worth the risks.

The film has been a powerful catalyst in mobilising campaigns across the world, and the filmmaking team have partnered with key anti-fracking groups to create a rebellious movement which after watching the film I have been inspired to join!"

"Few film-makers in the world were more militant against colonialism than Senegalese Djibril Diop Mambety. Back in the 70s he embodied political anger in strong female characters using a wildly satirical tone in his films."

Dark Days - chosen by Duncan Cowles, a Bridging the Gap alumni whose short film 'Directed by Tweedie' was its own quiet rebellion in doc form.

"This was the film that sparked my interest in documentary making! Shot on B&W 16mm film, Marc Singer focuses on the homeless community residing in tunnels under the New York subway in the 90's.

Singer lived with the community for a number of months before deciding to make the film and he recruited other homeless people from the tunnels to make up the crew with the intention of using it to help them all financially. When the little funds he had for production ran out, he managed to convince Kodak to supply free 'damaged film' for the project.

The film went on to win three awards at Sundance in 2000 but unfortunately it's the only film Singer has completed to date."

Man with a Movie Camera - chosen by Wilma Smith,Director of 2016 Bridging the Gap film The Review.

"Vertov’s experimental silent film was very punk rock for its time ...1929! Using montage editing, jump cuts, split screen, double exposures, Dutch angles, moving cars and trains for tracking shots... you name it! It’s an energetic, unconventional dancing kaleidoscope of daily life in the city. Not what I expected when I first watched it!"

"Jørgen bucks the trend, he is playful for the sake of being playful - he has made classic films like A Sunday in Hell about the iconic Paris - Roubaix cycling race in the 70’s but he also made Lars Von Trier’s favourite ever film The Perfect Human.

Fiction or documentary? Who cares! A controversial figure but honest and unforgiving - a poet and experimental filmmaker. Much of his film Erotic Man you watch through your fingers but it’s exposing, brutal and honest. Jørgen plays with the viewer, always."

"This infuriating documentary is a rebellion in every sense: a rebellion against the Chinese government, a rebellion by a sex worker using her body for a cause, a rebellion by a first-time filmmaker putting her anger to work and her face on-camera risking her own safety. I was blown away!"

"Director Pancho Tsankov is a true rebel. He had the guts to satirise the government in times when this was actually quite dangerous for your life and the lives of your close ones.

Workers wearing blue uniforms, collecting leaves with utmost care and dedication. The sound of dry leaves is soft and gentle. The harsh noise of an engine breaks the silence.

This is a little gem from the rich documentary tradition in Bulgaria. Just in three minutes, with no dialogue, only with sound and image, the film criticises the futile efforts of human labour during socialism."

The House Is Black - chosen by Elhum Shakerifar, producer of the fantastic A Syrian Love Story.

"Director Forugh Farrokhzad was an Iranian poet, filmmaker and rebel par excellence. Her modernist first person poetry referenced female desire with an openness and honesty rarely seen before. The House Is Black, the only film she directed paved the way for the Iranian New Wave in its poetry and devastating truth."

Darwin’s Nightmare - chosen by Iain Mitchell, director of one of our forth-coming This Is Scotland films, Black Rat Island.

"This 2004 film looks at the devastating effects of a small change in the ecosystem in Lake Victoria, Tanzania.

After a species of fish, Nile Perch, was introduced to the lake, a nightmare unfolds. The fish wipe out hundreds of other species throwing the local economy into chaos, resulting in local children being forced into drugs and prostitution.

The film is a rebellion against environmental changes without a thought or care for the long-term repercussions."

Filmmaker Margaret Tait - chosen by 2015 Bridging the Gap veteran Theresa Moerman Ib, director of The Third Dad which won her a BAFTA New Talent Award this year!

"John Grierson suggested Tait edit her films a certain way, but she dismissed his ideas, stuck with her unique voice and forged ahead making films outside of the mainstream, despite only getting funding for two out of 30!

Her work shows that documentary can be non-linear and non-narrative embracing poetry, hand-painting, and even silence - it doesn't have to shout out loud but can whisper about the personal, the domestic, the quiet everyday."